Damaged my bumper

[mingoglia]

Keep in mind I still wash my hands before every time I get into my '08. I'm pretty anal when it comes to damage to it.

So my business partner moved into a new place and the moving company wouldn't move his plasma tv's. So we put one in his car, and one in my Prius. I noticed last night, on the end he was carrying, that it dug two holes about half the size of a pencil eraser into my rear bumper. The bumper cover of course is plastic, which is why it was gouged out. I was pretty bummed about it yesterday.

I won't allow these to stay. If I have to replace the whole darn thing for $2k, I'd probably do it. It annoys me that much. Anyway, since they're small, I'd settle for a decent job, as opposed to perfect. Could a body shop easily fix this? Can plastic be filled, then painted? I know zero about body work. In fact, ironically I have a Jeep rock crawler that when I damage something I just cut that panel off with a Sawzall. ...but not my Prius, I take meticulous care of it.

It was late last night that I realized the damage happened and I was running late for work this morning so I didn't have a chance to snap any pics.

Mike

[Patrick Wong]

Sorry to hear about your accident. MSRP of a new bumper cover is $207; a body shop might charge $300 to repaint. I don't know that the holes can be easily fixed since the plastic is flexible.
Champion ToyotaWorld

[Jiipa]

If the damage is in the center part of your bumper, why not just get the black plastic protector PriusChat Shop : Toyota Prius OEM Rear Bumper Protector [00016-47015] - $36.99 to cover the damage and protect it from future damage?

[mingoglia]

Originally Posted by Jiipa

If the damage is in the center part of your bumper, why not just get the black plastic protector PriusChat Shop : Toyota Prius OEM Rear Bumper Protector [00016-47015] - $36.99 to cover the damage and protect it from future damage?

I thought about that... but unfortunately it's towards the right side on the transition where it goes vertical side... it's outside the area where the protector would go...

[mingoglia]

Originally Posted by Patrick Wong

Sorry to hear about your accident. MSRP of a new bumper cover is $207; a body shop might charge $300 to repaint. I don't know that the holes can be easily fixed since the plastic is flexible.
Champion ToyotaWorld

Wow, didn't realize the cover was so cheap. Cheap is a relative term as OEM parts are typically so expensive.

[ny biker]

Did you say "half the size of a pencil eraser"?

Dude, it's just a car.

And why buy a car that is environmentally friendly only to throw a perfectly good bumper into a landfill?

[mingoglia]

Originally Posted by ny biker

Did you say "half the size of a pencil eraser"?

Dude, it's just a car.

And why buy a car that is environmentally friendly only to throw a perfectly good bumper into a landfill?

I'll scrape all the paint off and throw it in my recycle bin for ya.... and I'm planning on just having it fixed.

[Boo]

Sorry about that Mike.

Would touch up paint be good enough for you?

[qbee42]

Buy some Valium. It will save you a lot of money in the long run.

Tom

[mingoglia]

Originally Posted by Boo

Sorry about that Mike.

Would touch up paint be good enough for you?

Yea, that's what I'm thinking. It'll have to be patched up with some type of plastic filler though. These holes literally go through the plastic. There are two small holes. I'd imagine if I looked a bit closer that they're literally clean through to the metal underneath. I'd imagine if I took the touch up paint and just painted over the black plastic that's exposed it will look better.

I have several rock chips in the front and a small scratch on the side... those are no big deal. These marks look like I backed into someone. They're very noticeable and I want to do something about them. They don't have to be completely gone... but I'd prefer not seeing them from 30 yards away.